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B-52 bombers fly over China air defense zone

While the United States insisted the training mission was long planned and was not in reaction to China's latest declaration, it came just days after China issued a map and a new set of rules governing the zone, which includes a cluster of islands that are controlled by Japan but also claimed by Beijing.

B-52 bombers fly over China air defense zone

A pair of unarmed B-52 bombers flew over disputed islands in the East China Sea during a training sortie Tuesday, defying new territorial claims laid out by Beijing over the weekend, U.S. officials confirmed.

The bombers, part of the longstanding forward bomber presence of rotating deployments at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, were in the zone for less than an hour, thundering across the Pacific skies during midday there. The aircraft encountered no problems.

Officials at Barksdale Air Force Base would not confirm the airplanes were local, as most of the eight-jet behemoths are based here, with the balance at Minot Air Force Base, N.D. Planes and crews from the 2nd Bomb Wing’s 20th Bomb Squadron recently deployed to Guam and will remain there through spring, base officials confirmed. Minot does not have any elements there at this time, they said.

“That is a (Pacific Command) issue,” said Lt. Col. Ryan Link, commander of the 96th Bomb Squadron, which just a few months ago had a deployed force return from Guam. He still has about 20 people on the island, a U.S. territory. “Once the aircraft leave here, I don’t have any idea what occurs.”

While the United States insisted the training mission was long planned and was not in reaction to China's latest declaration, it came just days after China issued a map and a new set of rules governing the zone, which includes a cluster of islands that are controlled by Japan but also claimed by Beijing.

On Saturday, China said all aircraft entering the new air defense zone must notify Chinese authorities and are subject to emergency military measures if they do not identify themselves or obey Beijing's orders. U.S. officials, however, said they have received no reaction to the bomber flights from the Chinese.

The flights have been a part of the landscape in the region for many years and have involved deployments of B-52s, B-1s and B-2 bombers to show the flag and to provide a rapid-response force for planners and vital long-distance and over-water training.

“The Pacific region is huge. It’s vast,” Link said. Having people and airplanes there “provides a U.S. presence in the Pacific. ... We can fly training mission, take part in air shows, engage with our allies.”

The bomber mission underscores Washington's immediate rejection of China's new rules. The United States, which has hundreds of military aircraft based in the region, has said it has zero intention of complying. Japan likewise has called the zone invalid, unenforceable and dangerous while Taiwan and South Korea, both close to the United States, also rejected it.

The declaration seems to have flopped as a foreign policy gambit. Beijing may have miscalculated the forcefulness and speed with which its neighbors rejected its demands, analysts say.

China also faces practical difficulties deriving from gaps in its air-to-air refueling and early warning and control capabilities, presenting challenges in both detecting foreign aircraft and keeping its planes in the air, according to Greg Waldron, Asia managing editor at Flightglobal magazine in Singapore.

Tensions remain high with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea called Senkaku by Japan and Daioyu by China. Beijing was incensed by Japan's move in September 2012 to nationalize the chain, and Diaoyutai by Taiwan, which also claims them.

Since then, Chinese and Japanese coast guard ships regularly have confronted each other in surrounding waters. Japan further angered Beijing last month by threatening to shoot down unmanned Chinese drones Beijing says it plans to send on surveillance missions over the islands.